Voters stand in a queue during the polling process for municipal elections at Meham on Sunday. June 19, 2022. (Express/file photo) The panchayat polls in Haryana will be held in two phases with the polling for the first phase in 10 of the 22 districts on October 30 and November 2, State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh said Friday.
The districts going to polls in the first phase are Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendergarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat, and Yamunanagar. Polling will be conducted from 7 am to 6 pm.
“On October 30, polling will take place to elect members of zila parishad and block samitis of these 10 districts, while polls for sarpanches and panches of gram panchayats, will be held on November 2,” Dhanpat Singh said addressing a press conference in Panchkula.
This is the first time when voting for panch, sarpanch and members of block samiti and zila parishad will be held on different days in Haryana. During earlier polls, votes for all four posts were cast on the same day.
The nomination process for the first phase will start from October 14. The panchayat polls are being held a time when the political parties have started preparing for the bypoll to the Adampur Assembly seat on November 3.
The Congress has decided not to contest the panchayat polls on party symbol. The ruling BJP is not contesting the election for panch, sarpanch and block samiti members on party symbol and has left the decision on district units whether they wish to contest the zila parishad election on it or not.
The panchayat polls will be keenly observed as they are being held at a time when the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government is completing eight years at the helm. The BJP is look to replicate its performance in the recently concluded municipal polls, where of 46 municipalities, it had won 22 while its alliance partner JJP won three. The Congress had not contested the civic body polls on party symbol.
Dhanpat Singh said the model code of conduct has come into force from Friday in the districts going to polls. “No officer or official connected with the election work shall be transferred from his or her place of posting till the completion of election process. About 36,000 polling personnel including returning officers, assistant returning officers, supervisory staff, presiding officers, polling officers and other staff will be deployed for smooth conduct of these elections,” he said.
“Counting of votes for panches and sarpanches of gram panchayats will take place on the same day, while counting for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members election, which are expected to be held on party lines and can have a bearing on the results of other districts, will take place after polling in the remaining districts,” he added.
The election official said 33,500 EVMs have been supplied to the districts going to polls. An EVM each will be used for posts of sarpanch, block samiti member, and zila parishad member, he said, adding election for the post of panch will be held through ballot paper and 16,217 ballot boxes have been supplied to the districts.
There are a total of 6,220 gram panchayats, 143 block samitis, and 22 zila parishads.